Work carrier



March 26, 1946. D. TILTON 2,397,399

WORK CARRIER Filed March 17, 1944 3, Sheets-Sheet l IBY/%-WM.'

ATTORNEY S'Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. flay/q 771/817" ATTOI-ZNEY March 26,3946. D. TILTON WORK CARRIER Filed March 17, 1944 March 26, 1946. YTELTON Z,3@7,3@0

WORK CARRIER Filed March 17, 1944 5 Sheets-Sheet s BY%VVMM ATTORNMEYPatented Mar. 26, 1946 worn: CARRIER Danley Tilton, Los Angeles, Calif.,assignor to Robert H. Clark, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application March 17, 1944-, Serial No.- 526,983

7 Claims.

This invention has to do with a work carrier in the nature of anadjustable work supporting table and it is a genera1 object of theinvention to provide such a device involving various adjustment andwhich operates to eifectively and firmly support an object to be workedupon.

There are numerous situations in which it is desired to mount or supportan object such as a unit to be worked upon so that that object is heldfirmly in a certain position. For example, quartz crystals such as areused in variou apparatus, must be cut from mother quartz and in order todo so the mother quartz is held While the cutting Operation is performedand it is highly important that the mother quartz be held veryaccurately at exactly the proper angle. The invention is particularlyuseful in carrying out operations such as crystal cutting. However, itpossesses features and characteristics making it desirable and usefulgenerally in a wide variety of situations and, therefore, it is to beunderstood that although the device described may be referred to as asupport for carrying various sizes and shapes of mother quartzformations, or the like, the invention is not to be understood asthereby limited to any specific use.

It is a general object of the present invention to provide a deviceorunit of apparatus such as I have referred to which operates to firmlyand securely carry an object to be worked upon. The device of thepresent invention involves numerous features of adjustment andconstruction by which the part are related for relative movement and yetare free of play that would otherwise result in errors as the device isused.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device of the generalcharacter referred to involving a series of adjustments whereby it ispossible' to accurately or delicately adjust an object held by thedevice to precisely the angle or position desired.

A further object or the present invention is to provide a device of thegeneral character referred to in which the part are shielded-orprotected against grit or abrasives that may be present duringoperation, with the result that the mechanism maintains its accuracyover a long period of time.

The various objects and features of my invention will be fullyunderstood from the following detailed description of a typicalpreferred form and application of the invention, throughout whichdescription reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig.1 is a perspective of the mechanism-oi the present invention. Fig. 2is adetailed transverse sectional view of the mechanism being a viewtaken substantially as indicated by line 2-2 on Fig. 1, certain of theparts being shown in elevation. Fig. 3 is a detailed transversesectional 5 view taken substantially as indicated by line 33 on Fig. l.The device of the present invention involves, generally, a base to, acarriage I I mounted on the base for horizontal movement in a directiontransverse of the base, a cros-shead l2 mounted on the carriage forhorizontal movement in a direction transverse of the carriage, avertical spindi l3 projectingupwardly from the crosshead, a body I4rotatably supported on the spindle, a

porting the plate l5'on the body M, means ll for adjusting the plate l5relative to the body l4, means IQ for operating the carriage'relative tothe base [0, means ls for operating the crosshead relative to thecarriage, and means 20 for releasably setting the body' against rotationon the spindle and various other features of arrangement andconstruction, all of which will appear from the following description.

The base I0 i designed to be placed on or secured to a foundation orstationary part of a mechanism such as a cutting or grinding mechanism,and to that end has a mounting flange 2! having a fiat bottom 22. Thebase l0 serves primarily as a support for the carriage H and serves tosupport the carriage so that it is movable or adjustable horizontally.

In the form of the invention illustrated the base 10 has a horizontallydisposed guideway 22 which is on the upper side of the base or facesupwardly to guide and support the carriage II. In practice the base Itmay be formed or fabricated in any suitable manner. However, it is mostconvenient to make it a casting, as such construction is rigid and lendsitself to the formation of a guideway that will effectively support thecarriage.

The carriage H rests on and is, supported by i the guideway 22 of thebase Ill. In the particular construction illustrated the guideway 22 ofthe base includes a pair of spaced rails the outer sides of which areundercut and the carriage H rests on the top of the rails and hasdepending parts 25 which engage in the undercuts so that the carriage iseffectively retained on thebase. To compensate for wear and to maintainthe proper fit between the carriage and the base I provide a bearingshoe 26 on one of the depending parts 25 65 to bear on the outer side ofone or the rails ot work upporting plate l5, means It pivotally upat itsupper 'side, which guideway includes a pair of rails similar to thoseprovided on the base to support the carriage. The guideway 28 of thecarrier extends horizontally and is disposed so that it is at rightangles to the guideway 22 of the base.

The cross head I2 rests on and is slidably car-L --indicated in Fig. 3.i

ried by the guideway 28 of the carriage and is secured to the carriageby engaging the undercut rails and it has an adjustable shoe 29 foltaking up wear and for maintaining proper fit between the crosshead andcarriage.

The vertical spindle I3 projects upwardly from g the crosshead and ispreferably located so that its axis intersects that of the guideway. Thespindle is provided to serve as'an effective support for the body I4 andis preferably made short'or limited as to its verticaldimension but aslarge as practical in diameter. This keeps the vertical height of themechanism down'and yet provides an effective stable bearing for the bodyI4.

The body I4, together with the plate I5, the mounting means l3 and theadjusting means I1, forms a head supported by the structure thus fardescribed. The body "I4 has a depending collar 30 finished to slidablyreceive the spindle I3. A flange 3| projects radially from the upper endcf the collar 30 and overhangs the mechanism thus far described andserves to carry an indicating scale '32 and has a part to be gripped forthe pur-- pose of rotating the head for general adjustment. The uppersection 33 of the body I4 is secured to the upper side of the flange 3|and serves to carry various parts as will be hereinafter described. Inthe preferred construction the flange 3| of the body is in the form of around plate arranged concentric with the axis of the spindle arrangedimmediately above the top or upper section 33 of the body; The plate Iis preferably provided with a fiat suitably finished top face '35 towhich work may be applied. I have shown the plate I5 as a plain flatplate, whereas it will be understood that the plate can be provided withholes or work holding devices, as cirrotated adjacent one edge of theplate 35' and'the axis of the connection is horizontally disposed, as isshown throughout the drawings. The means I 1 for adjusting the plate I5is preferably located at the opposite edge of the plate I5 and may, as Ihave shown in the drawings, include an adjusting screw 39 threadedthrough a lug 43 on the plate I5;to project downwardly so its lower endbears on a. bead 4| provided on the upper section 33. The screw 39- asshown in the drawingsis a'thumb screwlhaving an operating head 42 and isadapted to be set in the desired adjustedposition by a lock nut 43. i

In accordance with the preferred form of the invention means is providedfor indicating the angular position of the plate I5 about the pivotal 1means I6. This may include a scale 45 carriedby onelof'the parts, sayfor'instanca'the body; to

cooperate with an indicator 43 carried by the other part. 1 I

It is also preferred to provide means for maintaining the plate I5 tightrelative to the body I4 5 to eliminate vibration or movement. In theform of the invention illustrated I provide a tension spring 41 actingunder tension between the plate I5 and the top section 33 of the body tonormally urge or swing the plate I5 downwardly and thereby hold theadjusting screw 39 tight on the pad 4|. It will be understood, ofcourse, that there may be a spring 41 at each side of the table as is---The means I3 provided by the present invention for operating thecarriage relative to the base preferably a screw means. best shown inFig. 2 of the drawings, includes an adjusting screw 50 rotatablysupported by a bearing part 5| of the base I0 and threaded through a lug52 depending from the carriage between the rails of the guideway 22 ofthe base. A collar 53 a is provided on the outer end of the screwadjacent the bearing 5| and carries a scale 54 to cooperate with areference mark 55 on the bearing 5I- to 5 indicate the rotative positionof the screw. An operating handle 56 is provided outward of the collar53 so that the screw can be conveniently rotated.

The means I9 provided for operating the cross-f screw beyond the bearing58 and has graduations 6| cooperating with a reference mark onthebearing 53 to indicate-the rotative position of the screw. A suitableoperating handle 62 is provided immediately beyond the collar 60.

The means 20 provided for releasably setting the headagainstrotationincludes, generally, an arm 10 projecting laterally fromthe crosshead and fixed to the crosshead so that it can be considered astationary arm, an arm 1| projecting from the body I4 and connected tothe body through a clamp device, and a suitable mechanism connecting theouter end portions of the arms 10 and H as will be hereinafter describedThe arm 10 projects horizontally and laterally from the crosshead to apoint somewhat beyond the outer end of the arm 1| and both arms projectoutwardly beyond the rim or perimeter of the flange 3|. The arm 1| iscarriedby the body I4 but is releasably connected thereto so that thebody is freeto rotate relative to the arm. In the constructionillustrated the arm 1| projects from a split ring 13 which is rotatablysupported in a channel 14 in the exterior of the collar 30. The clampdevice 12 occurs at the point where the ring 13' is split and itincludes lugs on the-ring and a'clamp screw 14 cooperating with the lugs65 so that the screw can be rotated to clamp the ring tight on'thecollar 33 or to releasethe ring from the collar allowing the body I4 toturn freely 7 relative to the arm 1|. The screw 14 projects beyond theouter edge of the flange 3| where it is provided with an-operatinghandle 15 maki-ngit convenient to operate. v j 7 The mechanism providedby the present invention for connecting'the arms '10 and 1I is de-,

a signed to normally hold the armsagainst move- J ment but, i operableto provideavery fine-or This means, as is The screw is delicateadjustment between the arms when it is desired to accurately adjust therotative position of the body.

In accordance with the broader principles of the present inventionvarious means may be provided for connecting the arms I and H. However,in the preferred construction this means includes a case 80 slidablysupported on the outer end portion of the arm 10 to be shiftableradially relative to the arm. A tension spring 8| is connected betweenthe arms 10 and the case 80 as will be seen in Fig. 2 so that itnormally urges the case inwardly toward the center of the mechanism. Avertical spindle 82 is carried by the case to extend through the caseand to project above it to carry a disc 83 which acts as a shield forthe mechanism. The disc is preferably formed of transparent material. Anindicating dial 84 is carried by the spindle 82 at the top of the case88 to be visible through the disc 83. The dial 84 has graduations 81which cooperate with a reference mark 86 on the case to show therotative position of the spindle.

A pinion 85 is fixed on the spindle 82 within the case 88 and mesheswith a gear 88 carried on a spindle 89 mounted in the case. The spindle88 also carries a pinion 90 which meshes with a gear segment 9| fixed onthe outer end of the arm H and formed concentric with the spindle I3.Through this mechanism the arms 10 and H are normally secured togetheragainst relative movement. However, a very fine or accurate adjustmentof the arm 1| relative to the arm 10 can be obtained by rotating thedisc 83. It will be apparent that the gear train just described forms avery effective and delicate adjusting means. It will also be apparentthat the spring 8| normally serves to hold the gear train tight, keepinglost motion out of the mechanism. In practice I provide a reference mark85 on the arm 1| to cooperate with the graduations 32 on the flange 3|in order to show the rotative position of the head.

From the foregoing description it is believed that the general action ormode of operation of the mechanism will be fully understood. It will beapparent that the directions of adjustment between the base and thecarriage and the carriage and the crosshead, being horizontally disposedand being at right angles to each other, enable the means and 19 to beoperated to adjust the crosshead in any desired horizontal direction.The desired general rotative position of the work can be gained byreleasing the screw 14" and moving the head including the body M andplate l through engagement of the flange 3|. For fine or delicaterotative adjustment the disc 83 is employed while the screw 14* is set.To tilt or tip the work about a horizontal axis the screw I1 is operatedto move the plate l5 about the pivotal mounting l 6.

Having described only a typical preferred form and application of myinvention I do not wish to be limited or restricted to the specificdetails herein set forth, but wish to reserve to myself any variationsor modifications that may appear to those skilled in the art or fallwithin the scope of the following claims.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In combination a work carrying head, a mounting supporting the headfor rotationabout a vertical axis, an arm projecting from the mounting,a second arm, means releasably con- ,necting the second arm to the head,and means connecting the arms together.

2. In combination a work carrying head, a mounting supporting the headfor rotation about a vertical axis, an arm projecting from the mounting,a second arm, a screw operated clamp releasably connecting the secondarm to the head, and means connecting the arms to ether.

3. In combination a work carrying head, a mounting supporting the headfor rotation about a vertical axis, an arm projecting from the mounting,a second arm, means releasably connecting the second arm to the head,and means connecting the arms together including a gear train.

4. In combination a work carrying head, a mounting supporting the headfor rotation about a vertical axis, an arm projecting from the mounting,a second arm, means releasably connecting the second arm to the head,and means connecting the arms together including a gear segment on onearm, a gear carried by the other arm and meshing with the segment, andoperating means for the gear.

5. In combination a work carrying head, a mounting supporting the headfor rotation about a vertical axis, an arm projecting from the mounting,a second arm, means releasably connecting the second arm to the head,and means connecting the arms together including a gear segment on onearm, a gear carried by the other arm and meshing with the segment, andoperating means for the gear including an indicating dial.

6. In combination a work carrying head, a mounting supporting the headfor rotation about a vertical axis, an arm projecting from the mounting,a second arm, means releasably connecting the second arm to the head,and means connecting the arms together including a, gear segment on onearm, a case shiftably carried by the other arm, a manually operable gearcarried by the case meshing with the segment, and a spring normallyyieldingly. urging the case so the gear is kept in tight engagement withthe segment.

7. In combination a work carrying head, a mounting supporting the headfor rotation about a vertical axis, an arm projecting from the mounting,a second arm,'means releasably connecting the second arm to the head,and means

